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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 1, 1909. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme & Holland, of Liverpool, 

 writiiif^ on April 7 last., r'eport as follows on the market 

 conditions and prospects for West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton :— 



Since (lur last report a good business has been done in 

 West Indian Sea Island cotton, and about 400 bales have 

 been solil, including Barbados at 12A(/. to Hy., Nevis and 

 Montserrat, ViU to md. ; St. Kitf.s, I2»'l. to 13|.i. : 

 Antigua, I'AhL: St. CroiJi; 12(.'.: and Anguilla, 12^'/. to 

 lid. : also .some miscellaneous stains at t>|(/. 



Prices are steady, but there is no prospect of any 

 immediate improvement, as when prices are advanced, 

 .spinners withdraw from the market. The Charleston and 

 Savannah markets are rather (piieter, and ' fully fine ' Islands 

 cotton is otlering on this market at 13irf. to lid. This 

 competes with the West Indian product. 



In \iew of the fact tliat planters are finding present 

 prices unprofitable, we should i.ot recommend any increased 

 cultivation, until the accumulated crops of the last two years 

 have been consumed. This remark only applies if th» 

 Florida and Georgia crops, progress .satisfactorily. Any 

 damage to these would alter the whole situation for all 

 descriptions of Sea Island cotton. 



COTTON CULTIVATION. 



At a meetino; of the Antigua Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society held on April 8 last, the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture gave a brief address on 

 the subject of cotton cultivation, with especial reference 

 to the condition of affairs at Antigua. 



Dr. Watts reviewed the situation and went over the 

 chief points in the history of the Sea Island cotton industry 

 in the Lt.'cward Islands. This Wiis illustrated by means r.f 

 A diagram prepared for the occasion, which show ed in a giai>hic 

 way the rapid rise in the cotton exports ea('h season for 

 some years after the start of the industry, and the sudden 

 drop that of late had taken place at Antigua consecpient on 

 reduced prices and bad seasons. 



The Commissioner's address was of an encouraging 

 natun;, although he fully recognized the difficulties with 

 which cotton planters recently had to contend. In the first 

 place the market was depressed by artificial causes originat- 

 ing in America, and also in England, which resulted in 

 a diminisheil deman.l for cotton as well as for many other 

 pi-oducts. Further there had been an unusually large output 

 from the Sea Islands, Florida, and Georgia last season, so 

 that ah increased supply occiHTcd when tlie demand was low, 

 which again depressed prices. 



There was nr( 'doubt, too, that the seasons 1907 and 

 1908 had been especially unfavourable for cotton throughout 

 the West Indies, although it would seem that Antigua had 

 surt'ered more than other Islands. As a result of the long 

 drought, it had not been possible to plant cotton at the right 

 time, and the dry tveather had also prevented the plants from 

 making good growth, and insect and fungoid pests had been 

 very prevalent. With such a conjunction of unfavourable con<li- 

 tions, the results were bound to be unsatisfactory, but there 

 was no reason to believe that all the depressing causes would 

 lontinue to be in operation at the .^ame time. 



Dr. Watts urged the planters to stick to the cotton 

 crop, .and to exercise every care in its cultivation. Despite 

 the ditticulties of the past two seasons, an industry which had 

 reached an export ""value of £17,000 in a few years— which 

 had been the case with cotton in the Leeward Islands — was 

 obviously one which was worth a strong effort to keep alive. 

 On estates where cotton was not regarded a.s a main crop, 

 it was very valuable as a rotation crop with sugar-cane, since 

 it affordecl an opportunity of giving the land a change in 

 cultivation. The neriodical growing of a crop of cotton was 

 one of the best measures to adopt on land where sugar-cane 

 suli'ered from root idisease, since cotton plants were not 

 attacked by the Jf^irasmius fungus, and the cultivation of 

 the crop necessarily entailed a good cleaning of the land. 



COTTON GROWING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



With the assistance of the llriti.-.h Cotton (irowing 

 Association, eiforts are being made to establish a cotton 

 industry in suitable districts of Jiritish South Africa. .So 

 far the most satisfiictory results ajjpear to have been obtained 

 in the Transvaal, where native labour is i)lentiful and cheap. 

 Sea Island cotton does not do well in the Transvaal, and 

 American U[iland \4irieties are more promising than Ivgyptian 

 .■otton. The sea.sonal conditions are said to be .satisfactory 

 for cotton growing^ and the crop can be planted so as to be 

 ready for gathering in the dry sea.son. From I'pland cotton.s, 

 yields of lint from 200 B). to tOO It), per acre have been ob- 

 tained, ricking Is done by native women at a wage of 6(f. 

 per day. The picking capacity of a native woman is placed 

 at 10 lb. per day. 



Owing to the fact that there is at |)resenl f)nly one gin- 

 nery in the colony, little advances liave so far been made. AVith 

 the extension of lailways, the erection of additional ginneries 

 at \arious centrts, and the establishment of a mill for 

 i^xtracting oil from the cotton-seed, it is thought the industry 

 miiiht spread. .\ few sample shipments of cotton have. 

 aheadv been made to the Liverpool market. 



